The Only Moment We Were Alone
by emmylouuwho
Summary: This is the sequel to my story "Your Hand in Mine." Jecker. Lots more fluff than the last one.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: The sequel is here! But I'm working on like 3 other stories, so it takes me a bit to get the right voices going in my head. (And I just realized this makes me sound a little crazy, but whatever.) Anyway, enjoy!**

Jess Parker woke up on the morning of the day she was to return to work determined to remain professional. She had spent the past two days stuck in her flat with nothing to do but agonize over Becker's actions the day she'd been hurt, and every possible meaning behind them. She had almost driven herself into hysterics last night, and the rational part of her brain took over at that point, deciding then and there to act normal when she returned to the ARC, and let Becker make the first move if he was going to.

While this seemed to be a sound strategy at the time, the imminent threat of heading back to work proved that it was easier said than done. Still, Jess was determined to see it through, and so spent the morning lecturing herself. _So he was holding your hand,_ she told herself as she switched on the coffee maker. _That's not exactly a marriage proposal, is it?_ She got into the shower. _He was just worried about losing yet another member of his team._

_This is just another work day, the same as any other,_ she thought as she got dressed and went to the kitchen for coffee._ So he waited next to the hospital bed for you to wake up. He'd do the same for any one of us, _she sternly told herself, pouring coffee into a travel mug before following Abby and Connor out the front door.

"Jess." Abby said.

"Hmm?" she asked, glancing at her distractedly.

"Shoes," Abby replied, with a significant look at her feet.

Jess looked down at her bare feet. "Right," she said, thrusting the coffee mug into Connor's hand and running back to her room, returning a moment later wearing a pair of purple heels. She was so distracted that she didn't notice the smirk that Abby and Connor shared when she took her coffee back from him. "OK, let's go."

* * *

Abby smiled to herself as she watched her friend move erratically around the flat. _Becker's really done a number on that girl,_ she thought as she entered the kitchen just after Jess left it. She added the water that Jess had forgotten to the coffee maker.

The three of them, Abby, Connor and Jess, were on their way out of the flat and down to the car park when Abby noticed Jess trying to leave barefoot.

"Jess."

"Hmm?"

"Shoes."

"Right." As Jess disappeared into her room, Connor quirked an eyebrow at Abby.

"Becker," Abby replied simply, and Connor nodded.

They smiled at each other knowingly over Jess' head after she returned, slightly breathless, her heels clicking across the floor.

"OK, let's go."


	2. Chapter 2

Abby convinced Jess to let her drive the three of them in to work. She said it was because she thought Jess still wasn't quite herself yet, after her accident, but all of them knew it was really that Abby was afraid that Jess would swerve into oncoming traffic while thinking about Becker. But neither Abby nor Connor said anything. They spent the drive in companionable silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

Abby and Connor walked side by side as they followed Jess into the ARC, close but not quite touching. They had come to a sort of silent agreement not to discuss their fight in Connor's lab a few days before, and were almost back to normal. _Still feels like we're walking on eggshells around each other though_, Abby thought. Neither of them had mentioned Connor's work since then.

As the three roommates stepped into the elevator, Connor said, with a hint of a smile, "I still can't believe the one day I take off work is when all the excitement happens. Just my luck! I miss all the fun."

"I don't think Jess considers being knocked unconscious a good time, do you Jess?" Abby replied.

"No, that was not fun at all." But then, for some reason, she smiled to herself.

"OK, well, I'll see you both later, yeah?" Connor said with a grin at Abby, and headed off toward his lab while Abby and Jess made their way to the locker room.

"So what do you have planned for the day?" Abby asked as she hung up her coat.

Jess sighed deeply, sitting down on a bench. "I have to go over all the surveillance footage from the day that Ethan escaped, and Lester wants me to upgrade all the computer network's firewalls. And he's talking about hiring more soldiers, who will all need accounts and passwords..." Jess trailed off, and Abby looked up to see Becker standing in the doorway. He put a finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet, and began to sneak up behind Jess. Abby struggled not to laugh as Jess continued on, oblivious. "Basically, I'm debating smacking myself in the head with something, just to get out of it."

"I wouldn't recommend it," Becker said from behind her. "One head injury on top of another is very unpleasant, trust me."

Jess let out a strange sound, like a swallowed shriek, at the first words, and jumped up to see Becker standing directly behind her, grinning.

Abby headed for the door, chuckling. "I'll see you for lunch, OK, Jess? And take it easy today."

"Yes, Mum," Jess replied with a melodramatic sigh, then smiled at her as she left the room.

* * *

"Don't scare me like that!" Jess said to Becker when Abby was gone, even as a small grin spread across her face.

Becker returned the smile, completely unapologetic. "Speaking of head injuries," he said, stepping closer to her. "How's yours?" He was inches away from her now, and he gently brushed her hair off her forehead, examining the healing cut there. "That's not too bad. You shouldn't even have a scar," he said with a smile, looking down from the cut to her blue eyes. And suddenly he forgot what he was supposed to be doing, standing so close to her. Forgot why he'd come into the room in the first place. Forgot his own name, forgot everything except Jess.

* * *

The moment Becker had stepped in closer to look at the cut on her forehead, any rational thought in Jess' head evaporated. They could have stood there, just like that, for hours, and she wouldn't have noticed. The only thing she did notice was how Becker was looking at her, as if she were the only other person on the planet.

She should have heard the footsteps coming down the hall, but she didn't hear a thing until someone behind Becker cleared their throat. Jess actually did let out a small shriek then. She looked over to see Danny Quinn grinning in the doorway. She took a hasty step back from Becker, and then had to grab hold of his arm to keep herself from toppling off of her heels.

"Why is everyone determined to test my fight-or-flight reflexes this morning?" she asked, trying to cover her embarrassment by sounding exasperated.

"Sorry," Danny said. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything. Jess, isn't it? I hear you're the one to talk to about computer passwords and the like."

"Right," Jess said, and, trying to collect her scattered thoughts, began to walk toward the doorway. "Lester said I'd need to set you up with a new password and everything." At the door, she half turned back to Becker, wasn't sure what to say, and so just smiled at him before disappearing.


	3. Chapter 3

Jess had managed to lose herself in work, but that only lasted until noon. She headed over to the menagerie, and immediately sank into a chair in Abby's office, a defeated look on her face.

"Bad morning?" Abby asked, turning to raise a questioning eyebrow at her friend.

"Can we go somewhere with chips?" Jess said, avoiding Abby's question. "I feel the need to drown my sorrows in grease."

Abby gave a sympathetic chuckle. "Alright, let's go."

* * *

"He was _this close_ to me," Jess demonstrated a short time later, leaning over the table until her face was inches from Abby's. "Just staring at me. What am I supposed to think?" she asked as she settled back into her seat.

"Well, did he say anything? What happened after that?" Abby asked.

"Danny walked in, and I almost had a heart attack. I got flustered."_ Can't imagine that happening,_ Abby thought with a smile. "And then I left with Danny, to set up him up in his new office and everything. And Becker didn't say anything, and I didn't say anything. And I haven't seen him since." Jess sighed. "And it seemed like a 'you're the only girl in the world' look at the time, but now I'm not so sure. He's always like that, all flirtatious and then suddenly professional again."

"Well you know you're going to have to talk to him, aren't you?" Abby spoke over her friend's rambling. Jess paled visibly. "It'll only get worse, the longer you wait."

* * *

Jess walked purposefully down the hall back at the ARC. As soon as she returned from lunch with Abby, she decided to take her friend's advice and talk to Becker. If she didn't do it right then, she knew she'd lose her nerve. She walked into the armory to find Becker there alone. _Well, here goes nothing_, she thought with a small gulp.

* * *

Becker had spent his lunch hour in the armory, absently cleaning the guns he was never allowed to use, lost in his own thoughts. Most of them were about Jess. He'd noticed one of his men watching her admiringly earlier that morning, and was surprised at the surge of anger he felt toward his subordinate.

When Jess first started working at the ARC, Becker had overheard some of his men talking about her in a less than chivalrous manner. But, with a few well-chosen words about how his men were to treat their civilian colleagues, and several days of grueling training sessions, just to drive the message home, he'd managed to stifle that kind of thing amongst his soldiers. He still caught his men eyeing Jess and some of the other female ARC employees, but he never heard another word that was out of line. They were only human after all. He usually confined himself to a glare, just to keep them on their toes, and was always rewarded with a startled look from the offending soldier, who immediately busied himself with something else._ So why did I want to reach over and wring Mitchell's neck this morning?_ In all honesty, Becker knew the reason, he just didn't realize how strong his feelings for the young field coordinator were; they seemed to have snuck up on him.

As though drawn by his thoughts, Jess walked into the armory, a determined look on her face. Becker suddenly wished he were not alone in the room, just to have a reason to delay the conversation that he knew he had to have with her, and soon.

"Becker, I need to talk to you."

"Hello to you, too, Jessica," he replied, attempting a grin.

"Don't 'Jessica' me! Or try to distract me by acting all charming!" she replied, stamping her foot a little. Becker's grin this time was genuine, but Jess just glared back at him. He adopted a mock serious face, but this received the same treatment. He sighed, and tried to listen to her seriously.

"I think we need to get a few things straight, about how we... how I... I mean, how you... um, feel..."

At this point, Jess' courage seemed to desert her, and she stared at the ground, blushing furiously, shifting from one foot to the other. Becker stood up and walked over to stand in front of her. He reached out to gently lift her chin so that he could look into her eyes, and then cupped her cheek in his hand. They stood that way for a moment, while Becker tried to find the words to tell her how he felt. In the end, he simply leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. His hand moved from her cheek into the hair at the nape of her neck, pulling her closer, and his other arm wrapped around her waist.

* * *

Jess barely had time to think before Becker was kissing her. After her stumbling attempt to ask him how he felt about her, she stared at the floor, mortified. When he'd lifted her chin to meet her eyes, she found she couldn't string two thoughts together, and closed her eyes as he leaned towards her. Her reaction to the kiss was immediate, however. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as he pulled her in closer with one arm. She stood up on her toes, trying to get as close as possible, the only thought in her head a delighted, girlish squeal of "Eeeekkk!"

* * *

Becker thought he heard someone enter, and then quickly leave, but he really didn't care. It took several moments after that for the realization of where they were to sink in. Becker pulled away from Jess reluctantly, and only far enough to be able to focus on her face, his arms still around her waist.

"Jess."

"Hmm?" she replied, slightly dazed.

"This isn't a good idea." Her eyes snapped back into focus at that, and he could feel her tense.

"What? Oh." She tried to pull away, but he kept his arms around her.

"No, I meant, _at work_. It's not a good idea to be doing this at work." He grinned down at her as she relaxed and clasped her hands around his neck once more. "Do you want to meet up after work tonight? We could go somewhere and... talk... some more?"

Jess nodded and gave him such a bright smile that he couldn't help himself. Forgetting everything he'd just said about proper behavior in the workplace, he drew her into another kiss that left them both breathless several minutes later. That time it was Jess who came back to reality first.

"I should really get back to work," she said, disentangling herself from his arms, grinning widely. "I'll see you later, though." She reached up to plant a kiss on his cheek, dodging his attempts to pull her back into his arms with a smile. She looked back to smile at him once more, before disappearing down the hall. _The next four hours are going to be torture, _Becker thought with a grimace.

* * *

Connor walked into the armory, looking for Becker, and just stared for a moment before hastily retreating. He didn't want to bring down Becker's wrath by having him think he was spying. _Looks like those two are finally getting somewhere_, Connor thought with a smile, pulling out his phone to text Abby. _u will nvr guess what i jst saw! ;-)_

_**Author's Note: I think I'll have to agree with Jess when I say, "Eeekk!" Ch. 4 up soon! Promise.**_


	4. Chapter 4

Jess spent the afternoon reminding herself not to skip down hallways, and that leaping up and giving someone a giant hug was an inappropriate response to being handed a file. She couldn't keep the bright smile off her face, however, and several people noticed the complete turnaround from that morning. Even Lester commented on her "annoyingly cheerful mood," which she translated to mean that he was glad she was happier than she'd seemed that morning.

Jess went down to the menagerie late that afternoon to tell Abby that she wouldn't be riding home with her and Connor.

"I take it your talk with Becker went well," Abby said, a grin spreading across her face.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jess said with an answering smile, blushing.

"Well, when you get home tonight, I expect you to know what I'm talking about, and be willing to spill." Jess' only response was a bigger smile and a wink before she hurried out of the room.

* * *

Becker, on the other hand, did not have such a pleasant afternoon. He decided to avoid the Ops room altogether, convinced that, if they were in the same room, it would be clear to everyone from the look on his face what had happened between Jess and himself. He jumped every time he heard a cell phone ring, certain that it was an anomaly alert. By the end of the day, his nerves were completely frayed. But then he walked into the locker room, and Jess was standing there, waiting _for him_, a slight blush coloring her cheeks, and suddenly he grinned, completely happy, all his worries forgotten.

* * *

Becker was fully aware that he and Jess were acting like a pair of hormonal teenagers, making out in a parked car, but all he could think about was how to get the gear shift out of the way so he could pull Jess closer. They were sitting in the car park of a pub that Jess suggested going to, but they never made it out of Becker's truck. _Hell with it._ Jess gasped a little against his mouth as Becker lifted her into the driver's seat with him, without breaking their kiss. She settled onto his lap with a small sigh, her hands releasing their hold on his shirt collar and moving up to the back of his neck. She was raking her fingers through his hair, while he slid his hands under the back of her shirt, feeling each bump of her spine against his fingertips, when his cell phone rang. Both of them jumped. "Dammit."

Jess giggled as he struggled to fish his phone out of his back pants pocket, then, seeing Matt's name on the caller ID, laid her head on his shoulder with a sigh as he answered it. "Becker."

"I'll be right there," Becker said a few moments later, trying to focus on the information Matt was giving him and not on the feel of Jess' breath on his neck, or how he could feel her heartbeat against his chest. He hung up the phone, and Jess began to move away from him.

"Anomaly?" Jess asked as she slid back into her own seat.

"Yeah, sorry," he replied with a regretful look.

"It's OK. Let's go," she said brightly, trying not to sound disappointed.

"What? I'm taking you back to the ARC first."

"That's twenty minutes out of the way, each direction," she said. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Your phone's volume is really loud," she responded with a shrug.

* * *

Matt was passing EMDs to Abby and Connor when Becker and Jess pulled up. He looked surprised, surprised for him anyway, when Jess stepped out of the truck. Becker met Connor's smirk and significant looks at his and Jess' slightly disheveled appearance with a glare. Connor quickly looked down, fiddling with the setting on his EMD, but he was still smiling.

"Jess, what are you doing here?" Matt asked. "Never mind. Here," he continued as she and Becker glanced sheepishly at each other, and handed her an EMD.

"She's not coming with us," Becker said, incredulous.

"Why not? I'm not sitting in the car," Jess answered, glaring up at him. She turned to Abby. "You wouldn't happen to have a spare pair of trainers, would you?"

"Sure," Abby said, turning back to her car to grab the shoes, and to hide her smile at Becker's astonished face.

Becker looked to Matt for support, but he only shrugged. "She's already here, thanks to you." Becker scowled. "And she's had some training with the EMDs."

"Fine," Becker positively growled. "But she stays with me."

Jess rolled her eyes at Abby and mouthed, _Men_. Abby gave her an encouraging smile.


	5. Chapter 5

Danny Quinn paced the living room of the ARC's "company apartment," another new addition thanks to Prospero Industries, and ultimately, Philip Burton. After his brother's death, Lester had insisted that he take a few days' leave. The actual phrase he'd used was something along the lines of "I'll feed you to the mammoth if I see your face here at any time during the next three days." He didn't seem to understand that Danny would be better off, better able to cope with losing Patrick for the second time, if he was out in the field, _doing_ _something_. After more than a year and a half spent with mostly dinosaurs for company, Danny had forgotten the meaning of the word "relax." He wasn't used to sitting idle or letting his guard down, especially when there was an anomaly happening.

The cell phone that the field coordinator, Jess, had given him was programmed to ring when there was an anomaly alert. He'd been halfway out the door seconds after hearing it before he remembered Lester's orders. As much as Danny hated, _loathed_, taking orders from anyone, he had to tread carefully now that Burton was a part of the ARC. He was determined to keep a low profile, at least until he had proof that Burton was up to something._ And he's definitely up to something. _So instead of following his instincts and racing off to the anomaly site, he asked Abby to text him updates, and grudgingly stayed put. And paced angrily around the flat.

* * *

The anomaly site was in a wooded area that surrounded a neighborhood playground on three sides. Luckily, as it was after dark, the playground and woods were deserted, the perimeter set up by ARC personnel easy to maintain. Four soldiers from the ARC had shown up just after Becker and Jess, in order to sweep the area, checking for signs of a creature incursion. Abby, Connor, and Matt, with an anomaly locking device, headed straight for the anomaly, while Jess, Becker, and his soldiers, headed into the woods from different directions. Becker had hardly said a word since he ordered two of his men to enter the site from the west, the other two from the north, while he and Jess headed in from the south, sweeping toward the anomaly, which was near the playground on the east side of the woods. Jess had been put in charge of the remote anomaly detector, and she dutifully stayed behind Becker, but her patience with him was beginning to wear thin. She knew she didn't have the proper field training, but there was no sign of a creature incursion so far, and Matt had just radioed in to say they'd reached the anomaly and were about to lock it. This was pretty routine, and yet Becker was acting as though she was putting herself in the direct path of a T-Rex.

Becker was bending down to look at some tracks illuminated by his flashlight when one of his men came on the comms. "Sir, this is Jones, we've spotted signs of a creature." Jess froze, her irritation with Becker forgotten. _Please let it be something small,_ she thought._ That doesn't like to eat people_. Jones' voice came in a whisper now. "We've got a visual, three juvenile raptors."

The anomaly detector beeped, and Jess looked down at it blankly. She'd completely forgotten it was in her hand. Then she gasped. "Damn."

"Care to elaborate, Jess?" Becker asked, glancing back at her.

"Umm, the anomaly, it just-"

"The anomaly just closed," Connor's voice interrupted over the comms. "What're we gonna do about our new house guests?"

"We're going to scoop them up and take them back to the ARC," Matt said.

"Right," Becker said. "Jones, what's your position?" The soldier relayed his position, and all the teams confirmed they were heading there.

* * *

Becker and Jess were almost to his men's position when he realized for the first time how terrified Jess must be. He stopped and put a hand on her arm. "I won't let anything happen to you," he said, looking into her eyes.

"I can take care of myself," she replied angrily.

"I know you can. Compared to a bomb that's about to go off, what's a couple of little raptors?" he said, trying to put her a little more at ease, and he was rewarded when she smiled up at him.

"I know. I'm sorry," she said, still smiling. "I just don't want you to think that I can't-"

"Captain Becker? Davis here. We've got a problem. Mitchell and I are just southwest of Jones and Murray, and we've got four... no, make that five more raptors. And these look to be adults, sir."

* * *

Danny looked back over the texts he'd received from Abby, every ten minutes like clockwork, as he anxiously waited for the next update.

_Anomaly site deserted, no bystanders, no creatures. Easy. :)_

_Anomaly locked. Stop worrying._

_Three raptors. Juveniles. We can handle it._

_Five more raptors. Anomaly closed. We can still handle it. Already called for backup. STAY THERE!_

The last text had been twenty minutes ago, and he hadn't heard a thing since. Danny stuffed his phone in his pocket and reached for his jacket. "Mammoths are herbivores anyway," he muttered as he closed and locked the door behind him.

**Author's Note: Dun dun dunnnn...**

**But here comes Danny to save the day.**

**Ch. 6 is pouring out of my head and into the computer as fast as my fingers can type (which is pretty slow actually) so it should be up soon.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Sorry for the slight delay, I meant to get this up before, but I got distracted by life. You can blame my sis (she turned 25, so I spent the weekend playing with her). Anyway, one more chapter to go! And I'm already writing a 3rd Jecker fic. Be excited.**

Danny arrived at the anomaly site at the same time as the medics. He jumped out of his truck to see Becker running out of the woods, white-faced, clutching the field coordinator, Jess, in his arms. _What the bloody hell is she doing here? _Danny saw that she was bleeding from several gashes in her leg, and, as they came nearer, he saw two shallower cuts across her torso. Jess' eyelids were fluttering, her face a mask of pain. When he was still several feet away, Becker started yelling at the medics.

"Murray's just behind us." Two medics ran off toward the woods, where Matt and Abby were helping a blonde soldier limp along toward the vehicles, followed by Connor, carrying the anomaly locking device. The other two medics began examining Jess, and Becker began peppering them with questions. "Is she going to be alright? How bad is it?"

Danny walked over to stand beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Let them do their jobs, mate." Becker turned to look at him, and Danny was surprised at how... scared he was. "She's gonna be alright, Becker, she's a fighter."

Becker nodded, but didn't seem to hear the words, and turned back to Jess, who was now on a stretcher being wheeled toward the ambulance.

Danny trotted over to Abby, who'd just been relieved of her load, and asked, "What's going on?"

"The backup team is securing the raptors before transporting them back to the ARC, and you just saw the only two injuries. We have it under control. So what're you doing here?" Abby demanded, hands on her hips, glaring.

"You know me," Danny replied with a smirk. "You won't catch me sitting at home while you lot are out here having all the fun."

"Well, if Lester finds out you were here, he'll sic those raptors we just caught on you, so get out of here!"

"Oi, who says you get to order me about?" Danny yelled over his shoulder, walking back to his truck, but Abby just waved and turned to Connor, who'd come up beside her.

* * *

Becker was furious. He'd let Jess get hurt; unintentionally, but he still felt it was his fault._ She put herself in harm's way to protect me. She shouldn't be doing that, it's my job to protect her! _He stalked down the hall to Lester's office, causing people to bump into each other trying to avoid him after seeing the expression on his face. He walked into Lester's office to find Matt already there, sitting calmly in front of the desk, while Lester himself stood behind it, seething.

"You asked to see me, sir?" Becker said.

"Nice of you to join us, captain," Lester replied. "Now, would either of you like to tell me what the hell went wrong out there, starting with why Jess was out in the field?"

Becker was standing to attention, but he couldn't keep the furious look off his face. Matt was as calm and expressionless as ever.

"It was my fault that Jess was there," Becker said, avoiding Lester's eye.

"That's not quite true," Matt spoke for the first time. "Becker wanted her to wait in the car, I was the one who allowed her to join the team in the field."

"Moving on to how a routine anomaly with no bystanders ends with two injuries, three dead creatures, and five more joining the already overcrowded menagerie. Who would like to explain that?"

"We had only just discovered the creatures when the anomaly closed, sir," Becker said. "We split up to try and contain each group of them, but the adult raptors scattered and attacked us." He shook his head, trying to erase the image of Jess, who'd fallen while trying to distract the creatures, her EMD flying out of her hand, standing defenseless while three adult raptors charged towards her. "We managed to take two of them down quickly, but the others went after different members of the team before attacking Jess."

"Fortunately, the juveniles were easy to contain, so the rest of the team arrived in time to bring down the rest of them," Matt interrupted. "We followed procedure, it was just bad luck."

"Bad luck?" Lester repeated incredulously. He just shook his head for a few moments, then, looking up, seemed surprised to see them. "What are you still doing here? That will be all."

As Becker and Matt hurried out, they heard Lester muttering to himself. "Bad luck."

* * *

Jess woke up in the infirmary to find Becker sitting next to her bed, holding her hand. He smiled over at her, leaning over to plant a kiss on her forehead.

"It seems like we can't get through the week without one of us ending up in here," Becker said, sitting back in his chair. "Can we try for next week to be completely devoid of near-death experiences?"

"Ugh, yes please," Jess agreed, grimacing as she struggled to sit up, propped up against her pillows.

"Jess, I want you to promise me you won't take any foolish risks like that again. Please?" Becker said earnestly.

"You needed a distraction," Jess countered. "And it worked, didn't it? I gave you time to shoot them while they were coming towards me."

Becker just stared for a second before replying. "And you almost got yourself killed in the process!"

"I was not almost killed."

"You have a sprained ankle, and you had to have 35 stitches, 20 on your leg alone!" he yelled, earning a stern look from a nearby nurse.

They both glared at each other for a moment.

"Now you know how I feel every time there's an anomaly, and you decide to play the hero and take a stupid risk that almost kills you," Jess said, willing her tears to disappear.

Becker looked at her a moment, then reached over to cup her cheek in his hand. "Sorry Jess. I was just really..."

"Scared?" Jess supplied.

"Yeah."

"Me too." Only one tear slipped out, and Becker brushed it away with his thumb.

"I am serious, Jessica," Becker said eventually. "Promise me, no more foolish risks."

Jess arched an eyebrow. "I will if you will."

She stuck out her hand, and, reluctantly, Becker shook it. "Ok, deal. Now get some rest."

He got up, leaning over to kiss her forehead once more, but Jess held on to his hand as he turned to leave. She slid over in the bed a little, a hopeful smile on her face. Becker couldn't resist that smile for long, and carefully laid next to her, avoiding her bandaged leg and the IV tubes coming from her arm. Jess settled herself against his chest with a contented sigh.

"So it looks like I won't be able to wear skirts or heels for a while," she said.

Becker chuckled, and Jess smiled at the rumbling sound beneath her ear. Just before she drifted back to sleep, she felt Becker kiss the top of her head.

"Jess?" he whispered, but she just mumbled and snuggled closer to him. "Sweet dreams. I love you."


	7. Chapter 7

The next day, Becker had to leave Jess in Medical for a few hours. He did still have a job after all. Jess assured him that she would be fine. As soon as he could, he returned to the medical wing. Walking down the hall, he heard laughter, and opened the door to see Abby and Connor sitting on either side of Jess' bed, the bed's tray table between the three of them, playing cards. As Becker entered, Jess threw down her cards and said proudly, "Read 'em and weep!"

Connor groaned, and Abby turned to him, saying, "We've created a monster." Then she spotted Becker in the doorway and smiled in relief. "Oh good! Someone else for Jess to annihilate."

Becker smiled and walked over. "And I was worried you'd get bored while I was gone," he said to Jess, smirking.

"We made a big mistake and taught her poker about an hour ago," Connor said. "And now she owns pretty much everything but our souls, doesn't she?"

Jess simply grinned at him and asked sweetly, "Do you want to play?"

Becker looked over at the table, which was littered with scraps of paper. "It depends. What are you playing for?" He began reading the slips of paper. "'Laundry,' 'dishes for a week,' 'a back rub'?" He looked scandalized, and Connor blushed.

"I meant to win that hand against Abby, but Jess agreed to let me substitute with chocolate."

Jess gave Becker a devilish grin and asked, "So, are you in?"

Becker returned it, pulling up a chair. "Why not?"

* * *

Becker drove Jess home from the ARC's medical wing the next day, and stayed for a while to keep her company. They were on the sofa watching TV, Becker seated at one end, Jess' head on a pillow on his lap, her bandaged leg propped up on the opposite armrest. Becker absently stroked her hair with one hand, the fingers of the other hand twined with the fingers of hers where it rested lightly on her stomach, over the bandages covering it.

Neither of them were paying much attention to the documentary about Stonehenge, and Becker found himself drifting off, when Jess suddenly said, "Becker?"

"Hmm?" He sat up a little, checking the time to see if she needed her meds. He looked down at her curiously, but she was still facing the television.

"Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?"

Jess turned her head to look up at him. "What you said the other day in Medical. Did you mean it?"

_Oh God. I told her I loved her, didn't I?_ _I didn't think she was awake!_ "You heard that?" Becker asked sheepishly.

Jess nodded, looking into his eyes expectantly. He took a deep breath and nodded.

Jess smiled at him, then turned back to the TV, squeezing his hand in hers. "Me too." She paused, and he could practically feel her grin. "By the way, when are you cooking that dinner you owe me?"

Becker leaned his head back against the sofa. "I am never playing poker with you again."


End file.
